Stocks and Shares Isa (Santander) Advice for Dummies

jam_jar123

I bank with Santander and I'm thinking of setting up this isa with them as my savings account is with them also. I'm thinking it'll be easier to transfer money to the isa, online, from the savings account. I saw that they have a £20 thing where they ask you questions about your views on risk taking etc. After that, what do they charge for each transaction? Eg, if I buy 10 shares from 10 companies each? How many transactions do I need to make each month or year? I;ll probably be buying shares, not selling but sell in 5 years. At that point I'll be around the age of 60. If I retire at 60, and then sell any shares, do I pay tax on the income? Will it affect my pension income? I've an nhs pension and can take it at 60 if I wish (there's a portion in the 2015 scheme which I'm best not touching at age 60).
Are there any do's and don'ts anyone can advise on?
I don't have any isa at the moment.

Alexland

The £20 is for their Digital Investment Advisor to tell you which (if any) of their 4 multi asset fund options with ongoing percentage charges they suggest you invest in.

This service is not suitable if you want to buy individual shares and will not consider how this fits into your overall financial plan.

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/savings-and-investments/investments/digital-investment-adviser

Their Investment Hub offers more choice but there are still better choices elsewhere.

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/savings-and-investments/investments/choose-your-own-investment

With S&S investments 5 years isn't really long enough to have much certainty of a positive outcome.

eskbanker

A vague notion that it's sensible to buy shares through an ISA offered by your bank is not really a good place to start an investing journey - I usually recommend starting with research at sites suited to inexperienced investors, such as:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/investing-beginners-guide

https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing

http://www.monevator.com

http://kroijer.com/

http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/

https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as bearing in mind a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
   
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
   
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock Consensus and L&G Multi-Index.
   
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
   
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
   
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

Albermarle

As you are on an MSE forum , look at this one as well https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/investment-beginners/?_ga=2.53612712.1079067175.1585992456-416810279.1528033817

Audaxer

jam_jar123 said:

Are there any do's and don'ts anyone can advise on?

• Don't buy individual shares. It is better to buy funds which are much more diversified as they include many shares and therefore much less risky than buying individual shares.
  
• Do research first, with a view to buying a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund after opening an S&S ISA with an online investment platform rather than a bank. You can learn a lot by searching such topics on this forum and looking on the Monevator website.